Surgeon{3 s glove

ABSTRACT

A thin gauge elastomeric glove is disclosed which is particularly suited for use by surgeons. The glove fits the hand snugly in the finger, thumb, palm, and knuckle portions, but there is provided an outwardly directed bulge in the back of the glove to cover the metacarpal bone portion of the hand. The bulge comprises a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;reservoir&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; of extra material that provides for material flow to the palm and knuckle areas when the hand is closed. This minimizes tightness in the knuckle and palm areas, and permits the surgeon&#39;&#39;s hand to be relaxed and not stressed by the glove in the closed position.

United States Patent 1191 Povlacs 1451 Feb. 25, 1975 [73] Assignee:Akwell Industries Incorporated, Dothan,. Ala.

[22] Filed: Dec. 28, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 429,178

[52] U.S. Cl. 2/167 3/1959 GreatBritain .,2/168 8/1957 France ..2/168Primary ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin- Attorney, Agent, or Firm-McNenny,Farrington, Pearne & Gordon ABSTRACT A thin gauge elastomeric glove isdisclosed which is particularly suited for use by surgeons. The glovefits the hand snugly in the finger, thumb, palm, and knuckle portions,but there is provided an outwardly directed bulge in the back of theglove to cover the metacarpal bone portion of the hand. The bulgecomprises a reservoir" of extra material that provides for material flowto the palm and knuckle areas when the hand is closed. This minimizestightness in the knuckle and palm areas, and permits the surgeons handto be relaxed and not stressed by the glove in the closed position.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 SURGEONS GLOVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to elastomeric gloves and, more particularly, tosurgeons gloves which are formed of latex or the like.

Surgeons gloves are customarily formed by dip or spray coating a formwith a suitable rubber or plastic material. For manufacturing reasons,the form is in an open condition, with the fingers and thumb extended.During major portions of an operation, the surgeons hand is in a closedor. semi-closed position, thus increasing the bulk of the surgeons palmand knuckle areas. This causes'tightening of the glove on those areasand fatigue during relatively long surgical procedures. Furthermore,since the glove is formed in an open condition, it has a a naturaltendency to urge the surgeons hand to an open position, which furtherpromotes fatigue.

It has been proposed to provide a bulge in the portion of the gloveextending over the knuckle area to facilitate bending of the hand. Withthe bulge extending over the knuckles, however, the glove tends to bebaggy at the base of the fingers, and this condition isundesirable,'since the glove should be form-fitting and not loose in thepalm, thumb, and finger areas.

It has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,338 to provide a glovehaving a multiplicityof corrugations on the back side of the glove.These corrugations are provided so that the wearer may open and closehis hand without discomfort. However, such corrugations are SUMMARY OFTHE INVENTION This invention overcomes the foregoing prior art problemsby providing a glove which is smoothly fitted in the palm, thumb, andfinger portions but which permits the surgeon tomaintain his hand in arelaxed condition when his hand is closed. According to this invention,there is provided an outwardly directed bulge in the back of the glovewhich covers the metacarpal bone portion of the hand. This bulgeprovides a reservoir of extra material that allows material flow to thepalm and knuckle areas when the hand is closed. The bulge is in aportion of the glove which does not interfere with the surgeonsmanipulative techniques and does not interfere with his sense of feel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a view showing the back sideof a glove embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the glove illustrated in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of a hand and a fragmentary cross sectional viewof a portion of the glove according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the drawing there isillustrated a glove l0 embodying the present invention. The gloveincludes four finger portions 11, a thumb portion 12, a wrist portion13,

a palm portion 14 joining the finger, thumb, and wrist portions to forma front face area of the glove, and a back portion 15 joining thefinger, thumb, and wrist portions to form a back face area of the glove.The back portion of the glove includes a knuckle area 16. As usedherein, the term knuckle area is the area between the ends of themetacarpal bones and the finger webs. This area is generally designatedin FIG. 1 as the area between a line 17 and a line 18, which arerespectively drawn through the ends of the metacarpal bones and thefinger webs.

The glove is snugly fitted in the finger portions, thumb portion, wristportion, and knuckle area to provide the wearer with a good sense offeel in those portions and in that area. In a conventional glove, theback portion is defined by a substantially straight line generatrixwhich is in substantial alignment with the central axis of the glove.According to the present invention, however, there is provided anoutwardly directed bulge '-in the back 'portion 15 which covers themetacarpal bone portion of the hands. The bulge 19 provides a reservoirof extra material which provides for material fiow to the palm portionand knuckle area when the hand is closed. This minimizes tightness inthe palm portion and knuckle area and permits the surgeons hand to berelaxed and not stressed by the glove in the closed position. Whileperforming this function, the bulge is provided in a location which doesnot hinder or interfere with the surgeons manipulative techniques.

The scope of the invention is not limited to the slavish imitation ofall of the structural and operative details mentioned above. These havebeen given merely by way of an example of a presently preferredembodiment of the invention.

what is claimed is:

1. In a thin' gauge elastomeric glove comprising a wrist portion, fourfinger portions, a thumb portion, a palm portion joining said finger,thumb, and wrist portions to form a front face area of the glove, a backportion joining said finger, thumb, and wrist portions to form a backface area of the glove, said glove having a central axis, said backportion including a knuckle area extending from said finger portionstoward said wrist portion, said back portion being defined by asubstantially straight line generatrix in substantial alignment with thecentral axis of said glove, the improvement wherein an outwardlydirected bulge is provided on said back portion between said wristportion and said knuckle area, wherein the finger, thumb and knuckleareas snugly fit the wearers hand, and wherein all portions of the gloveare of substantially uniform thickness.

2. A thin guage elastomeric glove, including four finger portions, athumb portion, a palm portion, and a knuckle area, said foregoingportions and area being dimensioned to snugly embrace correspondingportions of the human hand, all portions of said glove being ofsubstantially uniform thickness, said glove also including a portion forcovering the metacarpal bone portion of the hand, said metacarpalcovering portion having an outwardly directed bulge that looselyembraces the

1. In a thin gauge elastomeric glove comprising a wrist portion, fourfinger portions, a thumb portion, a palm portion joining said finger,thumb, and wrist portions to form a front face area of the glove, a backportion joining said finger, thumb, and wrist portions to form a backface area of the glove, said glove having a central axis, said backportion including a knuckle area extending from said finger portionstoward said wrist portion, said back portion being defined by asubstantially straight line generatrix in substantial alignment with thecentral axis of said glove, the improvement wherein an outwardlydirected bulge is provided on said back portion between said wristportion and said knuckle area, wherein the finger, thumb and knuckleareas snugly fit the wearer''s hand, and wherein all portions of theglove are of substantially uniform thickness.
 2. A thin guageelastomeric glove, including four finger portions, a thumb portion, apalm portion, and a knuckle area, said foregoing portions and area beingdimensioned to snugly embrace corresponding portions of the human hand,all portions of said glove being of substantially uniform thickness,said glove also including a portion for covering the metacarpal boneportion of the hand, said metacarpal covering portion having anoutwardly directed bulge that loosely embraces the metacarpal boneportion of the hand.